


at the other end of the board

by shairiru



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 09:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5661424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shairiru/pseuds/shairiru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shintarou thinks of his invisible opponent as an imaginary friend, even though young men of his age are supposedly beyond that period in their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	at the other end of the board

Places have histories, stories that they have witnessed for as long as they existed.

Shintarou knows it all too well, and he tries to uncover everything he can everytime they moved places.

  
Their new house is probably the biggest so far of all places they have lived in. The garden is wide and spacious, and so are the rooms inside. Shintarou gets a whole bedroom on his own with the view of the sunrise.

  
Later, he discovers a small room above his, dark and dusty, smelling like old books and musty wood. A strange feeling lingers in the air that sends shivers down his spine. He brings up a lamp and sees a lone table in the middle, a chessboard arranged on top. It is as if someone had been playing on it and has forgotten to fix it up.

  
He goes towards it, thinking he could keep the board for himself when he sees the black bishop move four boxes diagonally. He stops in his tracks, holding his breath. He knows it isn't something he imagined.

  
Ghosts don't exist. Do they?

  
The pieces move again, and this time it's the white ones. Whatever it is that made them move, it certainly knows what it is doing and castled its king.

  
In normal circumstances, strange occurrences such as this should make someone run away. Instead, Shintarou finds himself drawing closer to the chessboard and moving the black knight out of its formation.

  
He hears his heart pounding against his chest as he waits for a response. It comes eventually, after a few moments as if the player on the other side of the board hesitated. Nevertheless, it becomes an actual chess match between him and an unseen opponent.

  
He loses in twenty more moves.

  
.

  
Shintarou thinks of his invisible opponent as an imaginary friend, even though young men of his age are supposedly beyond that period in their lives. He doesn't think of it as a ghost, for he can feel no regret nor sadness on the other side of the board which he supposes a ghost would exhibit. Instead, he feels so much life and eagerness from each move his opponent makes. Especially when Shintarou falls to a checkmate. Never has he won from the many times they played. He wonders if he could talk to his opponent, somehow.

  
.

  
He brings a paper and a pen that time, thinking that if they could play on the same board, maybe the same would work on paper. The chessboard is already neatly arranged when he arrived. He sits on the stool he has brought up to the room and writes on the paper.

  
[Hi.]

  
He places the paper on the table, just beside the chessboard, hoping his opponent would notice.

  
A little while, he sees a reply being written.

  
[Hello, friend.]

  
The handwriting is neat and is written with a pencil.

  
[Are you a ghost?] Shintarou writes.

  
There is a pause before the answer comes.

  
[No. I thought you were.]

  
[But I'm a person. A living one.]

  
[And so am I. What do you look like?]

  
[I have green hair and I wear glasses. I also am very tall.]

  
[I would say that is strange but I do have a strikingly red hair.]

  
[I am Shintarou.]

  
[Seijuurou.]

  
.

  
The next time, Shintarou brings a childhood contraption they made years ago at his old school. They are two tin cans connected by a string, and he remembers pretending with his sister that it was a telephone. He places one can at the other end of the board.

  
He writes on the paper: [Take the can and place the open end over your ear.]

  
To his utter surprise, the can disappears into nothingness but the string is left hanging mid-air.

  
He raises his can to his mouth and speaks.

“Can you hear me?”

  
Then he puts it over his ear.

  
“Shintarou?” The voice is almost musical and it is filled with amazement. “It's you isn't it?”

  
“It's good to hear from you.”

  
.

  
“What do you think it is?”

  
“A disturbance in the space-time, maybe?” Shintarou moves his queen. “We're almost a century apart. Yet we manage to interact through this small area. It's the only way to explain it.”

  
“You sound like you know a lot about this thing.”

  
“I read about it in a physics book.”

  
“And what are the chances that two people find a disturbance such as this?”

  
“One in a hundred thousand?”

  
“I'd say one in a million.”

  
“When you put it like that, you almost make it sound like it's something like destiny.”

  
“Maybe it is.” Shintarou doesn't miss how Seijuurou's voice softens when he said those words. “Oh, also, check.”

  
Shintarou sighs. “And it'll be checkmate in two moves, isn't it?”

  
“I like how you think.”

  
.

  
“Do you sing?” Seijuurou asks from nowhere one night they are in one of their usual chess matches.

  
“No. What made you think so?”

  
“Your voice sounds like you'd be good at it.”

  
Shintarou flushes at the subtle compliment. “I do play the piano, though.”

  
“It's the same for me. And, I also play the violin.”

  
“You have a lot of free time.”

  
“It's expected of me.” Seijuurou moves his bishop, consequently checking Shintarou. “I want to hear you.”

  
“Play the piano?”

  
“No. Sing.”

  
“But I don't-"

  
“Please?”

  
Shintarou wavers at the tone Seijuurou used at him, and he wonders if he gets everything he wants the same way. He finds himself clearing his throat and starting on a song that is most familiar to him.

  
When he's finally done, he hears Seijuurou's applause through his can.

  
“I'm right, after all. You do sing well, Shintarou.”

  
“I am not doing that again.”

  
“What song was that?”

  
“Something I used to hear from my father. Used to sing for my mother all the time.”

  
“A love song, then.” Seijuurou's small laugh is almost affectionate. “I like your voice.”

  
.

  
Shintarou hears a distant rumbling from Seijuurou's side, then the chessboard shakes, disturbing the pieces on it.

  
“Seijuurou? What was that?”

  
“The bombers.” Seijuurou says it so casually that it takes Shintarou a moment to realize the threat of the situation Seijuurou is in. “They're coming nearer and nearer each day.”

  
“Shouldn't you be running away?”

  
“There's no place to run to. There's nowhere to hide.”

  
“So what, you'll just wait for your turn without even trying? Your chess skills suggest you are a very innovative person, Seijuurou. You can make it out of this one.”

  
“Both my parents are already killed, Shintarou. Even if I run, they will find me and kill me all the same.” All the white pieces topple over as if pushed, a few of them falling to the floor. Seijuurou's voice sounds strained from the other side. “I've thought about everything. There's no way out of this.”

  
“Seijuurou…”

  
“I was just waiting for them, you know, playing chess on my own while doing so. Then you came.” He laughs, but it's sad and it almost sounds like a sob. “I'm glad to have known you, even if we never saw each other at all."

  
Another explosion rings through his can. Much louder, much nearer.

  
“Remember when you told me that maybe our meeting was destiny? I believe now that it is. We met so that someone could tell you, convince you to run away. You can still live if you tried. You can improvise along the way, but now, you have to run.”

  
There is only silence from the end, and if it isn't for Seijuurou's breathing, he would have thought he's already gone. He replies soon enough, but it isn't the one he wanted to hear.

  
“Shintarou. Listen to me. Whatever happens from here on, I want you to know that I…I like you. I'd like to get a second chance to meet you if destiny allows it next time.”

  
Before he gets a chance to answer, the other can reappears on the table.

  
“Seijuurou!”

  
But there is no one there to hear his call.

  
The board suddenly flies off the table, the pieces scattering all around him. They fall everywhere and he can do nothing but stare at the space around him, now feeling very empty. Tears pool in his eyes at the realization that he most likely lost a person he cared for. And he didn't even had the chance to say goodbye.

  
He picks the pieces up one by one and stores them inside the board. There is no need for them anymore. He returns to his room, bringing the chessboard with him and he hides it underneath his bed. He can only hope that forgetting will come with time.

  
.

  
.

  
.

  
Places have histories, especially big ones like the university he got into. He'll be studying physics, and if he's to be honest with himself, he never quite forget about his times with Seijuurou. He hopes to get answers during his stay here.

  
He enters the classroom and sits at the very back. He’s among the few students who arrived early. There is still some time to spare before his class starts. He pulls out Einstein's Theory of Relativity from his bag and picks up where he left off reading.

  
Other students come in trickles, he barely gives them attention. That is, until he feels someone sit beside him and turn to his direction.

  
“That's quite an interesting thing to read in the first day of classes.” It is a familiar voice. Shintarou freezes from where he sits. “I hope you are not trying to show off.”

  
He slowly lowers his book and finds himself staring at a strikingly red hair, then at a pair of red eyes. He gulps nervously. “As it stands, I am actually very interested with the physics of space-time.”

  
“That's good to hear.” He offers his hand with a smile. “My name is Seijuurou Akashi. And just like you, I'm really interested about space-time.”

  
Midorima shakes his hand, hoping he doesn’t feel how fast his heart is beating against his chest. “Seijuurou?”

  
“Not a common name, isn't it? I was named after my grandfather, though he's not directly a grandfather because he's a cousin of my actual grandfather. But you get the idea.”

  
“More or less.” He nods. “I'm Shintarou Midorima, by the way. Is that grandfather of yours still alive?”

  
“Oh, no. Sadly, he passed away over a year ago. He's a tough one, I'd say. Survived a war and lived until he's ninety. He always told me how he wants to meet for one more time a special person he met long ago through a disturbance in the time-space. It would have made Einstein flip if they met. He's actually the one who got me interested in this thing. It's unfortunate he never got to do that, though. He never married anyone because of that person, he said.”

  
“He's very dedicated.”

  
“He is. Oh, there's the professor.” Seijuurou leans closer and lowers his voice. “I'd really like to talk to you more about time-space. Have you got the time later?”

  
_I'd like to get a second chance to meet you if destiny allows it next time_.

  
“I have a chess board in my dormitory. Would you like to talk about it over a game?”

  
“Wonderful. I'm warning you though, I've learned from the best.” Seijuurou smiles at him again before turning his attention in front.

  
Places witness stories, and Shintarou has a feeling a new one is about to begin.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Physics is not my best subject *sweats*


End file.
